The Juice

Meditation- All Day , Every Day

I recently just did the most challenging thing I ever did in my life. I went to a silent meditation camp for 10 days, it was really 12 days all together but 10 days of complete silence and meditation. We meditated for 10 to 12 hours a day , all day , every day. There were no other activities, no reading of books, no yoga, no tv, no taking to the other students, nada.

Here was an example of our schedule:

4:00 am                 Morning wake-up bell

4:30-6:30 am         Meditate in the hall or in your room

6:30-8:00 am         Breakfast break

8:00-9:00 am         Group meditation in the hall

9:00-11:00 am        Meditate in the hall or in your room according to the teacher's instructions

11:00-12:00 noon    Lunch break

12noon-1:00 pm      Rest and interviews with the teacher

1:00-2:30 pm           Meditate in the hall or in your room

2:30-3:30 pm          Group meditation in the hall

3:30-5:00 pm           Meditate in the hall or in your own room according to the teacher's instructions

5:00-6:00 pm           Tea break

6:00-7:00 pm          Group meditation in the hall

7:00-8:15 pm           Teacher's Discourse in the hall

8:15-9:00 pm           Group meditation in the hall

9:00-9:30 pm          Question time in the hall

9:30 pm                Retire to your own room--Lights out

So imagine doing that for 10 days straight, no outside communication just me , myself and I.

I initially heard about the place through a cousin of a close friend. I actually just overheard my friend mention that her cousin came from this silent meditation camp for 10 days while she was talking to someone else, and it immediately peaked my interest. I didn't know one thing about what type of meditation it was, or what she actually did, I just knew that I wanted to do it. I contacted her cousin, she gave me the site and I signed up to go 2 days later.

Now before this meditation trip, I never really meditated, I knew what meditation was, but it wasn't something I practiced. I consider myself a very spiritual person. I truly believe in the law of nature, and that every living thing is interconnected, so anything that invloives increasing that internal awareness and making peace with life and all its creations, is something I am interested in.

The meditation camp was the most challenging but rewarding thing I have ever done, it changed me at a level I can not even describe. The meditation itself is based on the meditation teachings of Buddha, and while the 10 day meditation camp was just a small step on my overall spiritual journey, it is by far not the last. And let me just state, I am no where near being like Buddha, but I am definitely a more improved me from that experience.

Here are a few things I learned about myself because of the course:

- Misery is self inflicted and stems from either aversion or craving

- Forgiveness of others and yourself is necessary

- Be aware and just accept what is

Those are just a few of the many things that I learned and took way from this course. If you want to learn more about what I did and even try it yourself, check out their site. There are meditation sites all over the world and North America. The food, the people, the accomodations were amazing (did I mention it was FREE, all you have to do is pay to get there, and NO it is not a cult..lol).Going into it, I was expecting to sleep on a cot and eat leaves since the course was free, but that definetly was not the case. Infact, a close friend signed up to the coruse and will be going early next year, even my mom wants to do it!

I definelty will be discussing the course more in detail in other posts but for now, if you have any questions, let me know and I will be happy to answer them. I truly hope that every person at least once in their lifetimes experiences something like what I experienced at that meditation camp....pure PEACE.